Arguably the biggest test standing between Parkland and a potential perfect regular season figures to come on Friday night when the Trojans face off against Northampton (4-3-1). Parkland could have easily looked ahead when it faced Liberty early this week, but instead the Trojans kept their focus on the Hurricanes.

After a brief stalemate at 1-1 for a couple of minutes, Parkland surged ahead and left little doubt as to why it’s the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League’s top team. The Trojans (10-0) scored the next five goals to put away Liberty, 6-2, on Tuesday night at Lehigh Valley Ice Rink.

“Tougher games like Friday, I’m not going to be there and a bunch of other guys aren’t going to be there, and Northampton is a solid team,” said junior Charles Rongo. “Games like that are going to be hard. We’re down guys due to the holiday or injuries.

“Northampton gave us a good run for our money last time. Other than that I think it’s smooth sailing from then on.”

And after about 12 minutes of play, it looked like Tuesday’s game was smooth sailing from that point on. Timmy Doe gave Parkland a quick 1-0 lead, and after Liberty tied the game just 10 seconds later, Does’s second goal of the opening period gave the Trojans a 2-1 lead it would not look back from.

“After our first goal, we let up for some reason,” Rongo said. “Then we had to get back into it. In the first period we let one in, and then we normally get our act together when they get two.”

It didn’t take as long in the second period for Parkland to light up the scoreboard. Not even two minutes in, the Trojans won a faceoff on a Liberty power play. Doe lofted a deep shot on goal, which was initially saved by the Hurricanes’ goalie, but Rongo was there to punch in his first of two goals.

Then, two of the Trojans’ top point-scorers all year sealed the deal. Jake Nimeh increased Parkland’s lead to 4-1 not even two minutes later, and Rongo redirected a Doe shot for his second goal of the game. That score came with 4.1 seconds to play in the second period, giving the Trojans a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 advantage.

Rongo boosted his team-leading goals to 18 through 10 games to go along with 11 assists. And Nimeh is right on track with Rongo’s 29 points for the season, adding 15 goals and a team-high 14 assists.

“It was short-handed,” Rongo said of his goal on Liberty’s power play. “We had Johnny go up on forward for the faceoff draw, so we had one deep back there. And that is Timmy [Doe]. Timmy is pretty solid. He just lofted it forward, it bounced in front of the goal, and I went in and scored.”

Rongo credited a quick start to the team’s ability to earn its 10th win of the season. No other team has more than six, which comes from a team combined of Central Catholic and Bethlehem Catholic players.

“We set the tempo and it slows them down,” Rongo said. “It gives us some wind in our sails.”

Records will be thrown out on Friday night. Parkland will be short-handed once again without some of its key players, but its main focus is to keep its winning streak alive and season unblemished. It won’t come easily, however.

“It’s going to be a big game,” head coach Ken Doe said. “They are a very physical team.”